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Mr. Wisner

World History

October 7, 2016

Rome vs. Athens

In 500 BCE a new idea was arising. Citizens of Athens and Rome were coming to the

conclusion that they wanted to have a more significant role in their state. However, both

civilizations went into the concept very differently. Although they had their pros and cons, Rome

definitely had a better system of citizenship than Athens because women had rights, foreigners

could earn rights, and the Roman senate was organized.

During ancient times in places like Egypt, Babylonia, and ancient China it was extremely

rare for women to have any role in society. Rome, unlike other civilizations, let free native born

women be considered citizens with limited right. They might not have been able to vote or hold

public office but they could own land. In fact, women could independently farm, feed

themselves, and earn money by selling their crops. Those are are all things women couldnt do in

other places until many years later. Female children could be citizens if both her parents were in

the first place. On the other hand, Athens did not only refuse to give women rights, but they also

did not let free native born male children become citizens unless they completed their educations

and two years of military training.

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A fault in Athens civilization system was how they treated the foreigners from

conquered lands. Athens would enslave the foreigners, when in reality it wouldve been a benefit

to give them rights. That would have resulted in a larger population, cultural diffusion, and more

that would have given Athens power. Unlike Athens, Rome would actually give some foreigners

the chance to live with certain rights. The Romans would divide the foreigners into three

categories. First they had Latini, which were the people that were from a region on the Italian

peninsula and they were granted a citizenship that had many rights except to have an official

roman marriage. Second were Foederati, they were the citizens of states that had treaty

obligations with Rome and they were given limited rights in exchange for performing military

service. Lastly were Peregrini, which were foreigners in conquered lands and they were given the

chance to full or partial citizenship.

The Athenian assembly and the Roman Senate were events citizens participated in.

Though, the only way for a Roman to be part of the Senate was if he had inherited his seat. The

senate had a total of 300 men that came together to discuss foreign relations, ambassadors

selections, treaties, alliances, war policies, and public land control. They might not have

represented their citizens best because all the men were aristocrats, but their ideas and

suggestions were always heard. Their organization was amazing compared to Athens. The

Athenian assembly was open for all the 40,000 citizens to attend along with the chosen officials,

and the council of 500 that were chosen by lot. The council of 500 were the ones who oversaw
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the assembly, but even then, it mustve been chaotic to have so many people in one place all

trying to speak their mind about a topic.

Overall, both civilizations had some impressive systems for their time periods. Athens

attempt at making every single voice heard no matter their wealth or power, and Romes

flexibility in citizenship make it hard to choose between the two. Ultimately, Romes citizenship

for women and foreigners, and their organized Senate makes the better system when compared to

Athens.